New-school muscle cars dominate Talking Cars video podcast

Brightly painted, stick-shift equipped, and V8-powered, our new Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger are sweet treats in our normal healthy, high-fiber diet of mainstream test cars. We discuss their two very different tastes in the latest episode of our “Talking Cars with Consumer Reports” video podcast.

It seems almost quaint to call the Mustang a “muscle car” or “pony car.” Newly refined and sharpened for battle, the Ford seems far more sophisticated than that. By comparison, the Challenger feels like a throwback, but a fast and comfortable one all the same. Our usual gang of commenters—Director of Auto Testing Jake Fisher, Senior Engineer Gabe Shenhar, and Senior Engineer/host Tom Mutchler—argue about whether these different traits will attract different buyers.

Moving on to viewer mail, we outline the reliability problems suffered by the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ sports cars. Too bad these fun cars have lots of issues. Another viewer doesn’t like Tom mentioning interior quality in his reviews, which makes Tom sad for a moment. Carrying over a topic from the last episode, a viewer wants more on the Acura TLX, but without comparing it to a Honda Accord. We (mostly) comply. Finally, a viewer asks about an alternative for the BMW X3 for his aunt, inspiring rare agreement among our engineers.

As with the other shows, this episode is also available free through the iTunes store. Subscribe to the video or audio. You'll also find the video on YouTube.